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Maianthemum purpureum (Wall.) Lafrankie

Species

Angiosperms > Asparagales > Asparagaceae > Maianthemum

Characteristics

Plants 25--60 cm tall. Rhizome usually moniliform, 1--1.5 cm thick. Stem pubescent distally. Leaves 5--9, subsessile or shortly petiolate; leaf blade oblong or ovate-oblong, 7--13 × 3--6.5 cm, pubescent along abaxial veins. Inflorescence usually a raceme, occasionally with 1 or 2 branches, 1.5--7 cm; rachis pubescent. Flowers solitary; pedicel 2--4 mm, pubescent. Perianth white or sometimes tinged purplish; segments free, ovate-elliptic or ovate, 4--5 × 2--3 mm. Filaments ca. 1.5 mm, dilated to base; anthers small. Style nearly as long as ovary; stigma 3-lobed. Berries red at maturity, 6--7 mm in diam., 1--4-seeded. Fl. Jun--Jul, fr. Sep. 2 n = 36, 38*.
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A herb which keeps growing from year to year. It is about 60 cm high. The rootstock is stout and creeping. The rhizomes or underground stems and undivided. They are 1-1.5 cm thick. The leaves do not have leaf stalks. They are 5-12 cm long. The leaves are broadly oval and taper to the tip. They have hairs along the edge. They are hairy underneath. The flowers are deep brown. Sometimes they are white tinged with purple. They occur as many flowers along stalks at the ends of branches. The fruit is a berry. It is red at maturity and 6-7 mm across. There are 1-4 seeds.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.3
Root system creeping-root rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It grows in forests and thickets between 3,200-4,000 m above sea level in SW China. In Nepal they grow between 2600-4200 m altitude. They grow in dense forests. In Yunnan.
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Forests and thickets; at elevations from 3,200-4,000 metres. Dense Betula and Sorbus forests; at elevatios from 2,600-4,200 metres in Nepal.
Light 1-6
Soil humidity 4-6
Soil texture 1-6
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

The tender leaves and shoots are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. They are used in stir fries and added to soups.
Uses food medicinal
Edible leaves shoots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed or root offshoots.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Maianthemum purpureum unspecified picture

Distribution

Maianthemum purpureum world distribution map, present in China and Nepal

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:943009-1
WFO ID wfo-0000690684
COL ID 6R5B7
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Tovaria purpurea Tovaria pallida Tovaria oligophylla Veratrum hoffmeisteri Smilacina zhongdianensis Maianthemum pallidum Maianthemum oligophyllum Maianthemum purpureum Smilacina purpurea Jocaste purpurea Smilacina oligophylla Smilacina pallida Jocaste purpurea var. albiflora Smilacina purpurea f. oligophylla Smilacina purpurea f. albiflora Smilacina purpurea var. albiflora
WorldFloraDB 2024